Ore-separator.



T. C. COLE.

- ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-18.1%].

Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

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ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 18. I917.

Pawnted Nov. 27, 1917.

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ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED mma. m1.

Patented Nov. 27,1917.

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ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I8. I917.

1 ,248,267 Patented Nov. '27, 1917:

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LE- J/ J 7 J2 THOMAS C. COLE, OF RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS.

ORE-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. '27, 1917.

Application filed January 18, 1917. Serial No. 143,164.

To all-whom it may concern Be it known that I, THoMAs O. Conn, a citizenof the United States, residing at Russellville, in the county of Popeand State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Ore-Separators; and I do declare the following to bee full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

This invention relates to improvements in ore separators and moreparticularly to an apparatus of this character which employsdead insteadof flowing water.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this characterwhich while simple and economical in construction and operation, willeffectively separate precious or other metal from sand, dirt or thelike.

Another object is to so construct theapparatus that the separating tankhas a plurality of motions produced by peculiar means to facilitate theseparating operation, and which is equipped with a peculiarlyconstructed false bottom over which a drag chain operates to remove thesand and tailings.

WVith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein'disclosed may be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a separating apparatusconstructed in -accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 33 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

"Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail plan view showing the adjacent ends of thefalse bottom sections with the connections between them;

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

ing structure is provided which as shown comprises a main frame composedof channel 1IOI1S 1. The longitudinal channel irons 1 are verticallyspaced-to form upper and lower frame members, and those at each side ofthe apparatus are connected byspacing uprights l braced bythe-angleirons 2.

Mounted in this main frame is a concentrating and separating tank 3 ofany suitable or desired size, and which is supported by countershafts 4extending transversely across the bottom of the tank at each end thereofand arranged in suitable bearings 5 carried by the tank bottom.These'shafts 4 project at their opposite ends beyond the sides of thetank and are equipped with gear wheels 6 which rest on and mesh withtoothed blocks 7 and 7 fixedto the lower side members of the main frameand which are constructed as will be presently described. These gears 6have flanged heads 8 at their outer ends for a purpose to'be described.The bores 9 in these gears terminate inside the flanged heads thereof sothat the shafts e do not extend entirely through the gears, said gearsbeing keyed or fastened in any suitable manner to theshafts.

The toothed blocks 7 at'the-rear of the apparatus which we will termrocker horses, have their toothed upper faces concaved or curvedlongitudinally and each provided with a longitudinally extending groove10' at the outer side thereof, the outer wall '11 of sa1d grooveprojecting beyond the toothed upper face of the horse and being inclinedlongitudinally from one end to the other as shown at 12 to provide awedgedike engagement with the flanged head 8 of the gear wheel 6 whichtravels on said horse, the two horses at the opposite sides'ofthe framebeing constructed exactly alike ex'cept that the wedge-shapedouterav-all of the horse to opposite ends of the shaft 18.

at one side is arranged reverselyto that at the other side to permit thefree running of the gear wheels 6 and at the same time cause the tank onwhich said wheels are mounted to vibrate sidewise one-half an inch moreor less, the longitudinal curvature of said horses producing a verticalvibratlon of said tank which facilitates the separation of the ore aswill be hereinafter more fully described.

The rocker horses 7 T which are mounted at the front end of the frameeach has its toothed upper face made in the form of a double concavewith a projection 13 arranged between the two concaves so that thepassage of the gears over these faces Wlll cause the tank on which theyare carried to move downwardly, upwardly, and then 7 downwardly againwhen the tank is reciprocated.-

A feed supply'hopper 14 is mounted at the free end of the tank and therear end of said tank is upwardly inclined as shown at 15, whichterminates in a downwardly inclined tail board 16 vover which thetailings, sand or the like are designed to be dis charged.

A driving wheel 17 is mounted on a main shaft 18 supported in suitablebearings at the front of the main frame in advance of the tank 3. Thisdriving wheel 17 ispreferably constructed in theform of a band pulleyand operates also as'a fly wheel and which may be driven from anysuitable source of power. A pulley 19 is fixed to one end of the shaft18 and has peripheral engagement with a friction pulley 20 which latteris mounted to be moved into and out of engagement with pulley 19 at thewill of the operator by means of a lever 25 which is held in adjustedposition by a pawl and rack 25 and25 Th'e pulley 20 also frictionallyengages a large pulley or friction wheel 60 fixed to a countershaft 27so that when the machine is in operation this shaft 27 will be rotatedfor a purpose to be described.

The tank reciprocating means comprises two eccentrics 21 and 22 whichare fastened Pitmen as 23 connect these eccentrics with the countershaft4 at the front of the tank on which the front gears 6 are mounted, Thisconnection of the drive shaft 18 with the front countershaft 4 of thetank by means of the eccentrics and pitmen above described operates toreciprocate the tank longitudinally when the machine is in operation.

A plurality of sprocket wheels are mounted on the main frame, six beingemployed, two front sprocket wheels 26 mounted to rotate with acountershaft 27,two rear sprocket wheels 28 mounted to rotate with acountershaft 29, and two intermediate sprocket wheels 30 mounted with acountershaft 31. The

front sprockets 26 operate as drive wheels for drag chains hereinafterto be described, the intermediate sprockets 30 serve to keep the chainsin the bottom of the tank while in motion, and the rear sprockets aredesigned for dumping sand over the tailboard.

The sprocket chains as 32 are mounted to travel at each side of theapparatus over the front, rear, and intermediate sprockets arranged ateach side, and these chains are 75 connected by a plurality oftransversely extending drag boards 33. These drag boards 33 are providedwith a plurality of drag chains 34 secured at one end to said boards andtheir free ends are designed to move over air pipes and through troughsin the bottom of the tank, and operate to agitate and move the mineralover the bottom of the tank toward a basin 40 which is arrangedintermediate the ends of the tank preferably near its rear end toreceive the separated mineral.- V

The drag boards 33 are preferably provided with soft steel drag pins 35which project laterally from said boards at the side opposite thatcarrying the chains 34, said pins being designed to move over the airpipes 54 and 54 of the false bottom 50 of the tank to be described, toassist in agitating the sand and dirt as thetank is vibrated sidewiseand position it in the, troughs to be drawn out over the tail board bythe drag chains 34.

Disposed within the tank 3 at the bottom thereof is a false bottom 50composed of rear and front sections 51 and 52- connected at their innerends by a mineral receiving pan 40. This pan 40 is designed not only toreceive the mineral which settles in the bottom of the tank but alsooperates as a tie or brace for connecting the two sections 51 and 52 ofthe false bottom. This pan 40 as shown is substantially semi-cylindricalin cross sectional contour with diverging flanges 40 along its sideedges and between which is rotatably mounted a hollow cylindrical valve41. The upper portion of this valve is pierced with a plurality of airoutlets 42 to permit the passage into the tank of air admitted to saidvalve through a hollow stub shaft 45 opening into one t-nd thereof, saidshaft being connected with any suitable compressed air source not shown.

, A lever 44 is connected with the hollow stub shaft 45 which extendsthrough the tank and one end of the valve 41 at a point eccentric to thelongitudinal axis of said valve so that the turning of said shaft willoperate to open and close the valve. This stubshaft also operates as anair supply pipe through which air is admitted to the valve. The valveoperating lever 44 has one end suitably positioned for engagement by theoperator and thelever is actuated when it is desired to open the valveto permit the 1.3.0

mineral which has settled within the basin above said valve to drop downinto the basin and be conveyed therefrom to a suitable point of deposit.The rear end of the mineral basin 40 is arranged two inches more or lessnearer the cylindrical valve 41 than the front end thereof, therebyproviding an incline to permit the passage from sa1d basin of themineral dumped thereinto on the opening of the valve.

The rear false bottom section 51 is constructed of galvanized iron orother suitable material corrugated longitudinally to form troughs 53which are V-shaped in cross section and have mounted at their side edgesor the apices between adjacent troughs perforated air pipes 54. Anydesired number of 'these troughs may be formed in this section and acorresponding number of air pipes employed, one pipe being arrangedbetween adjacent troughs and secured thereto as is shown clearly in Fig.4. The rear ends of the air pipes 54 merge into a transversely extendingsupply pipe 55 arranged outside the tank and which is designed to beconnected with any suitable source of compressed air supply. The frontends of these pipes 54 are flattened out into substantially triangularshape as shown at 56 and these flattened pipe ends are bent downward andsecured to the false bottom section 51 by brazing or otherwise, formingclosures for the spaces between the troughs at the inner ends thereof.The apertures in these air pipes are arranged at an angle of forty-fivedegrees to the bottom of the pipe to prevent the entrance of sand intosaid pipe during the operation of the apparatus.

The front section 52 of the false bottom 50 is constructed in a similarmanner, having a pluralityv of longitudinally extending troughs. Airpipes 54 similar to the pipes 54 of section 51 are mounted on the apicesof the grooves in the section 52, the same as those in the othersection, and are perforated in a similar manner to those of the othersection, to prevent the entrance of sand and mineral into the pipe. Thefront ends of these pipes 54 extend through the tank and are connectedwith a transversely extending air supply pipe 56. The opposite ends ofthese pipes 54 are flattened out similar to those of thepipes 54 and arebent and brazed to the section bottom 52 or are otherwise suitablysecured thereto to close the spaces between the troughs at the inner endof secti0n52.

A screen 57 is rcmovably mounted over the valve 41 and forms a coveringfor the mineral basin 40 to prevent thehdrag chains from distributingthe mineral or dragging it over the tailboard. This screen 57 isconfined between the fiattened ends of the pipes of the two sections andmay be secured in any suitable or desired manner.

From the above description it will be obvious that when it is desired toset the machine in operation, the drive wheel 17 having first beenconnected with its driving power, the chain actuating sprocket wheelswill be brought into operation by manipulating the lever 25 to elevatethe friction pulley 20 into engagement with the pulley 19 of the mainshaft 18, the periphery of said pulley 2O bein in engagement also withthe pulley 6O fixed to the shaft 27 so that motion imparted to saidpulley 60 by the pulley 19 will operate to drive the sprocket wheels 26and through the sprocket chains 32 drive theother sprocket wheels 28 and30, thereby causing the drag chains to move over the false bottom 50 inthe direction of the arrow a, said chains serving to carry the tailingsand sand which settle in the grooves of said false bottom up over thetail board 16 and discharge itfrom the apparatus. The mineral which isheavier than the tailings will gravitate toward the pan 40, passingthrough the screen 57 and settle on top of the valve 41, the air passingthrough said valve serving to agitate the water and keep the tailingsand sand in suspension and pre vent it from settling on saidvalve. lVhena suitable quantity of mineral has collected on the valve, said valve isopened by means of the lever 44 and the mineral discharged into the panbelow from which it is 0011-. ducted to any suitable point of deposit.

In the use of this apparatus the tank 3 is first filled with waterbefore any material is fed thereto through the hopper 14, and as thewater remains in the tank and the tailings or sand are carried out bythe drags, very little water is required to operate this machine, makinit especially useful for dry countries. The air which is forced into thepipes and through the apertures therein out into the tank serves toagitate the water, sand and mineral, causing the mineral to concentrateto the bottom of the V-shaped troughs and to move toward and enter thepan 40. The positioning of the apertures of the air pipes at an angle offorty-five degrees relative to the bottom of said pipes causes the airto come in contact with the mineral at an incline, thereby effectivelyseparating the mineral from the sand and other dirt so that the mineralentering the basin or pan 40 is perfectly clean.

The air entering the tank under low pressure through the pipes at thetops of the troughs produces a gentle agitation in the liquid andthereby raises the lighter particles to the surface of the bath withoutinterfering with the settling of the particles of higher specificgravity.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for separating substances of different specificgravities comprising a bath containing tank having a settling vesselarranged thereunder and communicating therewith to receive thesubstances of high specific gravity, a valved inlet to said vessel,means for opening said valve, said valve having air supply means forproducing agitation in the bath, and means for removing the substancesof low specific gravity.

2. An apparatus for separating substances of diiferent specificgravities comprising a bath containing tank having a settling vesselarranged thereunder and communicating therewith to receive thesubstances of high specific gravity, a valved inlet to said vessel,means for opening said valve, said valve having air supply means forproducin agitation in the bath, a screen arrange over said vessel abovesaid valve, and drag chains movable over the bottom of said tank andacross said screen whereby the substances of high specific gravity aredirected into said settling vessel and those of lowerjspecific gravityconveyed over said screen and out of said tank. 7

3. An apparatus for separating substances of different specificgravities comprising a bath containing tank having a settling vesselarranged thereunder and communicating therewith to receive thesubstances of high specific'gravity, a hollow cylindrical rotary valvemounted eccentrically in the upper portion of said vessel and normallyclosing it, a combined air inlet pipe and journal eX- tending from oneend to said valve and through one side of the tank, an actuating leverconnected with said pipe for opening said valve, said valve having itsupper face perforated to discharge air therefrom into the tank, andmeans for remoidng the substances of low specific gravity from the tankand for directing those of higher specific gravity into said settlingvessel.

4. An apparatus for separating substances of different specificgravities comprising a bath containing tank having a settling vesselarranged thereunder and communicating therewith to receive thesubstances of high specific gravity, a valved inlet to said vessel,means for opening said valve, longitudinally arranged troughs in thebottom of said tank opening at one end into said settling vessel abovesaid valve, perforated air pipes mounted between adjacent troughs on theapices thereof, and drag chains movable through said troughs.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a bath containing tank havinga longitudinally corrugated bottom, a settling vessel communicatingtherewith, and a conveyer in said tank comprising an endless series oftransversely disposed drag boards carrying drag chains operable in thegrooves of said corrugations.

' 6. In an apparatus of the class described, a bath containing'tankhaving a longitudinally corrugated bottom, a settling vesselcommunicating therewith, a conveyer in said tank comprising an endlessseries of transversely disposed drag boards carrying the grooves of saidcorrugations, laterally eX- tending pins operable over the ridges of thecorrugated bottom, and perforated air pipes mounted longitudinallyonsaid ridges be-' low said pins. r

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a bath containing tank havinga longitudinally corrugated bottom, a settling vessel communicatingtherewith, a conveyer in said tank comprising an endless series oftransversely disposed drag boards carrying drag chains operable in thegrooves of said corrugations, laterally extending pins operable over theridges of the corrugated bottom, and perforated air pipes mountedlongitudinally on said ridges below said pins, said pipes having theirinner ends flared and fiattened to form closures for'the spaces betweenthe grooves at their inner ends.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, a tank having one endinclined upwardly and outwardly, troughs arranged longitudinally in saidtank on the bottom thereof, a settling vessel arranged transversely ofthe tank adjacent the bottom of its inclined end, the top of said vesselhaving an opening extending transversely across the tank, said top onopposite sides of said opening converging toward said opening, a hollowcylindrical eccentrically journaled valve operable in said opening toform a closure for said vessel, said valve having outlet perforations inits upper face and an air inlet through one end, means for opening saidvalve, said troughs having their inner ends opening into said vesselabove said valve, longitudinally disposed perforated air pipes arrangedon the apices between said troughs and having their inner ends flattenedand shaped to form closures for the spaces between the troughs, a screenconfined between said pipe ends over said valve, and an endless seriesof drags movable through said tank and troughs.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

" THOMAS o. COLE.

'Witnesses: F. M. MASON,

Gno. W. VANCE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. O.

